Lubrication oil applicator device

ABSTRACT

A lubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil on a running vehicle wheel and or a rail on which said wheel runs, is provided, said device comprising an oil applicator wheel assembly adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil on the rim of the vehicle wheel and/or the top of the rail and an oil metering mechanism including a reciprocally and rotatably movable member which is adapted to reciprocally and axially move and rotate in response to the rotational movement of said applicator wheel so as to pump the lubrication oil to the applicator wheel in a predetermined amount.

[ Jan. 8, 1974 LUBRICATION OIL APPLICATOR DEVICE [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Fuji Toyuki Co., Ltd., Takamatsu City, Japan [22] Filed:Mar. 8, 1972 [211 Appl. No.: 232,828

Susumu Miyake, Takamatsu, Japan 52 us. Cl. 184/3 n, 184/32- [51] Int. ClF16n 9/02 [58] Field of Search 184/2, 3, 3 A, 15 R, 184/15 A, 102, 32, 7D, 7 E

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,195,681 7/1965 Hirata184/3 R 2,699,840 1/1955 Fujinawa 184/3 R FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 278,283 10/1927 Great Britain 184/32 OTHER PUBLICATIONSDiesel Engineering Handbook, Volume II, Page 340 relied upon.

Primary Examiner-Manuel A. Antonakas Attorney-Orville N. Greene et al.

[5 7 ABSTRACT A lubrication oil applicator device for applyinglubrication oil on a running vehicle wheel and or a rail on which saidwheel runs, is provided, said device comprising an oil applicator wheelassembly adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil on the rim of thevehicle wheel and/or the top of the rail and an oil metering mechanismincluding a reciprocally and rotatably movable member which is adaptedto reciprocally and axially move and rotate in response to therotational movement of said applicator wheel so as to pump thelubrication oil to the applicator wheel in a predetermined amount.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 8l974 SHIU 1 [1F 3 PATENTED 8 74SHEEI 2 BF 3 1 LUBRICATION OIL APPLICATOR DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to a lubrication oil applicator devicefor applying lubrication oil in a predetermined metered amount on arunning vehicle wheel and/or to a rail on which the wheel runs and moreparticularly, to a lubrication oil applicator device for applyinglubrication oil on the rim of a running vehicle wheel and/or to the topof a rail on which the wheel runs which comprises a rotary oilapplicator wheel assembly adapted to contact and apply lubrication oilon the vehicle wheel rim and/or to the rail top and an oil meteringmechanism which includes a reciprocally axially movable and rotationalmember adapted to reciprocally axially move and rotate in response tothe rotational movement of the applicator wheel assembly so as to pumplubrication oil in a predetermined metered amount to the applicatorwheel assembly whereby possible wear on the vehicle wheel and/or railwhich may otherwise occur due to frictional contact between the wheeland rail can be substantially reduced resulting in the extension of theservice life of the vehicle wheel and/or rail.

There have been proposed and practically employed a great variety oflubrication oil applicators for applying lubrication oil on runningvehicle wheels and/or rails on which the wheels run so as to reducepossible wear on the vehicle wheels and/or rails which may be caused byfrictional contact between the wheels and rails. One type of the priorart lubrication oil applicator device comprises as its principal parts,a piston disposed within a cylinder for reciprocally axial movementtherein, a valve adapted to be opened or closed by the reciprocalmovement of the piston and a rotary oil applicator wheel adapted to befed with lubrication oil by the advancement of the piston. in such aconventional oil applicator device, when the piston is advanced,lubrication oil under pressure within the cylinder is displaced out ofthe cylinder to open the valve which in turn allows the oil to flow tothe oil applicator wheel which in turn applies the oil on an object tobe lubricated. Another type of the prior art lubrication oil applicatorfor the purpose described comprises as its principal parts, a sphericalvalve, a needle valve and a rotary oil applicator wheel and in whichwhen actuated by oil under pressure, the needle valve opens thespherical valve which in turn feeds the oil to the applicator wheel andthe wheel then applies the oil on an object to be lubricated by acentrifugal force generated as the applicator wheel rotates. ln theprior art oil applicator devices including the two typical types ofapplicator devices referred to above, it has been practically impossibleto regulate the amount of lubrication oil to be applied on the object tobe lubricated to a precise predetermined value and especially, there hasbeen frequent occurrence of oil application in excess amounts in saidprior art oil applicator devices which has necessitated frequentreplenishment of lubrication oil to oil supply tanks associated withsuch oil applicator devices. In order to avoid excess application oflubrication oil and- /or frequent replenishment of the oil to the tanks,attempts have been made to reduce the amount of lubrication oil to beapplied on an object to be lubricated thereby to a very small value. Ithas been generally recognized that when a running vehicle wheel has runon a rail by the distance of 10,000 km., the necessary amount oflubrication oil to be consumed to keep the rail and/or wheel in a properlubricated condition would be on the order of 1.51. If the amount oflubrication oil to be applied onthe rail and/or vehicle wheel exceedsthis value, the excess oil flows on the top of the rail and/or the wheeltread to the extent that the wheel slips on the rail top so as to causederailment to take place.

Furthermore, such excess oil may stain the environment in the vicinityof the rail installation.

The piston-type oil applicator device referred to above employs areciprocally movable piston of every small diameter (for example, 1mm.in diameter) for pumping lubrication oil and therefore, if air and/orother foreign matters enter the cylinder or pumping chamber in which thepiston moves axially, the piston will be easily rendered inoperative andcan not pump the oil. In addition, in such a conventional oil applicatordevice, the foreign matters which have entered the pumping chamber causethe oil to leak out of the valve or valves to the extent that thefunctioning of the applicator device in regulating the amount of oil maybe jeopardized. And also in the centrifugal type oil applicator devicereferred to above, the amount of oil applied may easily vary dependingupon the environment temperature and/or by improper adjustment of theneedle valve and therefore, the application of lubrication oil in apredetermined metered amount on an object to be lubricated by the devicemay become very difficult. Thus, the centrifugal force type oilapplicator device also has the identical defects with those inherent inthe piston-type oil applicator device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a novel and improved lubrication oil applicatordevice for applying oil on an object to be lubricated which caneffectively eliminate the disadvantages inherent in the prior artlubrication oil applicator devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lubrication oilapplicator device which essentially comprises a rotary oil applicatorwheel assembly which is adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil onan object to be lubricated thereby and an oil metering mechanism whichis adapted to pump the lubrication oil to the wheel assembly in apredetermined metered amount.

According to the present invention, the oil metering mechanismessentially comprises a pump chamber defining cylinder, a pistondisposed within the cylinder for reciprocally and axially movement androtational movement in the cylinder. The piston comprises a cylindricalmember having a notch at one end and a reduced cross section areaportion at the other end the latter of which is snugly received in abifurcated end of the shaft of a pawl wheel which imparts rotationalmovement to the piston. The pump chamber defining cylinder is defined bya cylinder block which is provided with suction and discharge portswhich are adapted to alternately communicate with the notch on thepiston thereby to vary the volume of the pumping chamber. Thus, the oilmetering mechanism does not need specific separate suction and dischargevalves which are otherwise necessary in the corresponding meteringmechanisms of the prior art, but the suction and discharge ports in thecylinder block function as the suction and discharge ports,respectively.

With the above construction of the novel oil metering mechanism, themetering mechanism is so operated that when the piston is in itsdischarge stroke, for example, the notch on the piston is incommunication with the discharge port so that the lubrication oil withinthe pump chamber can flow out of the chamber through the discharge portto be fed to the oil applicator wheel assembly while the suction port isblocked from communication with the notch on the piston by the fulldiameter section of the cylindrical piston thereby to prevent thepossibility of any oil leakage from the pump chamber.

According to the present invention, there has been provided alubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil on arunning vehicle wheel and/or a rail in a predetermined metered amount,which comprises a one-way rotary lubrication oil applicator wheelassembly which is adapted to contact and apply the lubrication oil on anobject to be lubricated thereby and an oil metering mechanism which hasa reciprocally and axially movable and rotational member adapted to pumpthe lubrication oil to said applicator wheel assembly in a predeterminedmetered amount.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art froma reading of the following description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the presentinvention for illustration purpose only, but not for limiting the scopeof the invention in any way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings show onepreferred embodiment of oil applicator device for the rims of runningvehicle wheels and/or the edges of rails on which the wheel run inwhich;

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of said applicator device with aportion thereof broken away, and showing the device applying oilon theupper edge or top of a rail for an overhead travelling crane;

FIG.2 is a side elevational view of said applicator device with aportion thereof in section and with the oil applicator wheel assembly ofthe device positioned in its horizontal position;

FIG.3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of an oil meteringmechanism which is adapted to pump lubrication oil to said applicatorwheel assembly in a precisely metered amount;

FIG. 4 is a vertically sectional view of said oil metering mechanismtaken along substantially along the line IV IV of FIG.3; and

FIGS is an enlarged scale fragmentary perspective view of a pistonmounted in said oil metering mechanism of FIGS. 3 and 4.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be nowdescribed referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate onepreferred form of oil applicator device of the invention as the deviceis applied for applying oil on the upper edge or top of a rail of anoverhead travelling crane, for example. As shown in FIG.2, theapplicator device generally comprises a hollow main body 1 which has acenter opening 2 which extends through along the longitudinal axis(vertical axis as seen in FIG.2) of the main body 1. A shaft 3 isloosely received in the opening 2 and has a first end of reduced crosssection area which is keyed in a bore 6 provided in a substantiallyU-shaped inner wheel cover member 5 which is adapted to rotate togetherwith an outer wheel cover member 4. The inner cover member 5 has a pairof diametrically opposite flanges 5 which extend outwardly from theopposite legs of the U-shaped inner cover member 5 and which are firmlyheld between the mating shoulders 4' on the outer cover member 4 andprojections on an oil applicator wheel assembly 8 of which descriptionwill be made hereinafter. The other end of reduced cross section area ofthe shaft 3 is keyed in a worm 7 which is in turn engaged with a wormwheel 9 (FIG.4) so that the rotational movement of the applicator wheelassembly 8 may be transmitted through the shaft 3 to the worm wheel 9.The shaft of the worm wheel 9 has a rotor 10 fixed to one end thereofand the rotor 10 has on the outer surface an eccentric pin 11.

Numeral 12 denotes a link which is loosely mounted on the shaft 14 for apawl wheel 13 and the link 12 has a solt 15 adjacent to one end withinwhich the eccentric pin 11 on the rotor 10 is guided so that as therotor 10 rotates the link 12 is rocked leftwards and rightwards.

A pawl 16 is secured to the inner surface of the link 12 in a positionbetween the opposite ends of the link by any suitable means forengagement with the pawl wheel 13 under the action of a spring (notshown).

As mentioned above, since the link 12 rocks leftwards and rightwards inresponse to the rotational movement of the worm wheel 12, the pawl 16intermittently rotates the pawl wheel 13. A second pawl 17 is suitablyprovided in a position to allow the pawl wheel 13 to rotate in onedirection, but prevent the pawl wheel from rotating in the otherdirection and therefore, the second pawl serves as a detent means forthe pawl wheel.

A first outer end of the shaft 14 of the pawl wheel 13 is rotatablyreceived in a recess formed in a cover member 18 and the other end ofthe pawl wheel shaft 14 is bifurcated to slidably receive one end, ofsquare reduced cross-sectional area, of a piston 19 which movesreciprocally and axially relative to the pawl wheel shaft 14 and at thesame time rotates together with the shaft 14 as the latter is rotated ina manner as described hereinafter.

The construction of the piston 19 is more clearly shown on an enlargedscale in FIGS and as shown in this figure, the piston has at one end anotch 20 on which a pin 21 projects outwardly and the pin 21 is adaptedto be guided along in a spiral cam groove 23 formed in the inner surfaceof an adjustable cam member 22 which is suitably connected to a cylinderblock of which description will be made hereinafter. An adjusting arm 30is secured to the cam member 22 by means of screws for adjusting theposition of the cam 22 relative to the piston 19.

A second or upper cover member 18 and a third or lower cover member 18"(as seen in FIGA) are connected to the first cover member 18 by means ofscrews to define the casing of the lubrication oil metering mechanism ofwhich description will be made hereinafter. The cylinder block 28 isdisposed within the metering mechanism casing and connected to thesecond and third cover members 18"and 18" by means of screws. Thecylinder block 28' defines a pump chamber 28 therein and the piston 19is received in the pump chamber 28 for reciprocal and axial movement androtational movement as mentioned hereinabove. The cylinder block 28' hasa pair of diametrically opposite suction and discharge ports 24 and 25which open to the pump chamber 28 and which are adapted to alternatelycommunicate with the notch 20 on the piston 19 as the piston 19 isrotated while the piston is slidably moving within the pump chamber 28.And more particularly, the arrangement of the suction and dischargeports 24 and 25 with respect to the notch 20 on the piston 19 is so madethat while the pin 21 on the piston 19 is being guided along one halfsection of the spiral cam groove 23 as the piston 19 rotates within thepump chamber 28 together with and axially moves in one directionrelative to the pawl wheel shaft 14, for example, the suction port 24communicates with the notch 20 while the discharge port 25 being blockedfrom communicating with the pump chamber 28 by a full diameterintermediate section 29 of the piston so that lubrication oil underpressure in a predetermined metered amount from a supply source (notshown) is allowed to flow through the suction port 24 and notch 20 intothe pump chamber 28 and on the other hand, while the pin 21 is beingguided along the other half section of the spiral cam groove 23 as thepiston 19 rotates together with and axially moves in the other directionrelative to the pawl wheel shaft, the discharge port 25 in turncommunicates with the notch 20 while the suction port 24 now beingblocked from communication with the pump chamber by the full diametersection 29 so that the metered amount of the lubrication oil which haspreviously flown into and is now held in the pump chamber is allowed toflow out of the chamber to a one-way rotary oil applicator wheelassembly of which description will be made hereinafter.

The above mentioned piston 19, cam member 22 and cylinder block 28constitute the lubrication oil metering mechanism of the inventiontogether with the parts associated with these principal meteringmechanism parts.

According to the present invention, a flexible tube 26 is suitablyconnected at one end to a pressurized lubrication oil supply source (notshown) and at the other end to a fitting 26 the other end of which is incommunication with first and second passages 27 and 27 in the orderwhich passages are defined by the abovementioned cover members 18 and18.

The other end of the second passage 27' is in communication with a thirdpassage 27 which is defined in the cylinder block 28' and which is incommunication at its other end with the suction port 24.

As mentioned hereinabove, the position of the cam 22 relative to thepiston 19 can be easily adjusted by the adjusting arm 31) and moreparticularly, by rotating the cam 22 in one or the other direction bythe adjusting arm 30, the time point at which the notch 20 on the piston19 alternately communicates with the suction and discharge ports 24 and25 as the piston moves axially and rotates as mentioned hereinabove canbe varied as desired whereby the time point at which the lubrication oilis pumped out of the pump chamber 28 by the piston 19 can be adjustedaccordingly. After having been discharged out of the pump chamber 28 viathe discharge port 25 as the piston 19 moves leftwards as seen in FIG.4)or in the advancement stroke, the lubrication oil enters a communicationpassage 31 defined by the first and third cover member 18 and 18 and thecylinder block 28 and as the oil flows through the passage 31, the oillubricates the periphery of the pawl wheel 13 which is partiallydisposed within the passage. Thereafter, the lubrication oil continuesto flow through the opening 2 in the main body 1 and a radialcommunication passage 32 which is also provided in the main body andwhich is in communication with the vertical opening 2. The lubricationfurther continues to flow into a groove 34 formed in a rotary wheel 33which is journalled on the main body 1 by means of bearings for rotateabout the main body.

The rotary wheel 33 constitutes a part of an oil applicator wheelassembly which is generally indicated by numeral 8 and by which thelubrication oil is directly applied on a running vehicle wheel (notshown) and/or a rail 41 on which the vehicle wheel runs. The oilapplicator wheel assembly generally comprises an applicator wheel 8'which is journalled on the main body 1 and secured to the rotary wheel33 for rotational movement therewith and the applicator wheel as an oilabsorbing felt 40 held in a peripheral groove in the applicator wheel. Athimble 35 is inserted in a center opening in the applicator wheel 8'and the thimble 35 has on the top as seen in F102) a groove 36 which isin communication at one end with the groove 34 in the rotary wheel 4, asecond groove 37 which is in communication at one end with the other endof the groove 36, a restricted passage 38 which is communication at oneend with the other end of the groove 37 and a second restricted passage39 which is'in communication at one end with the other end of the firstpassage 38. The provision of the grooves 34,36 and 37 and restrictedpassages 38 and 39 is to prevent the lubrication oil within theapplicator device from gushing out of the device as the applicator wheelassembly 8 rotates and to thereby restrict the amount of oil to thepredetermined metered value. If the lubrication oil in any excessiveamount is applied on the rail of an overhead travelling crane or arunning vehicle wheel, the excessive oil may cause slippage on the railor vehicle wheel or at least constitutes waste of oil. in order tofurther insure against excess flow of oil, in the illustratedembodiment, the groove 34 in the rotary wheel 33 and an outlet 43 of thethimble 35 which is in communication with the second restricted passage39 and which separates between the thimble 35 and applicator wheel 8 aredisplaced from each other by With such an arrangement of the groove 34and outlet 43, even when the outlet 43 is positioned at a height lowerthan that of the groove 34 or vice versa, excess oil flow to the objectto which the lubrication oil is to be applied, can be effectivelyprevented.

The outer cover 4, oil applicator wheel 8 and rotary wheel 33 areassembled together by means of bolts 47 extending therethrough and nutsthreaded on the bolts. Ball bearings 44, 45 and 46 are disposed betweenthe main body 1 and the rotary wheel 33 and thimble 35 so that theapplicator wheel assembly and its associated rotatable parts can berotated as one unit relative to the main body.

The entire applicator device of the invention is supported by aconventional support structure for such a device. The support structuregenerally comprises a stationary part which is to be secured to asuitable structure which is a part of the facility where the applicatordevice of the invention is operated and a movable part articulatelyconnected to the stationary part. Since such a support structure hasbeen well known in the art,

a detailed description of the structure will be omitted herein. Thus, itwill be understood that the entire applicator device can easily bemaneuvered with respect to the object to be lubricated by the applicatordevice at any desired angle to the object.

Furthermore, it should be understood that the stationary part of thesupport structure is detachably secured to the body of a running vehicle(not shown) adjacent to a vehicle wheel which is to be lubricated by theapplicator device of the invention or in any other suitable position inwhich the applicator device can conveniently apply the lubrication oilon a rail on which the vehicle wheel runs. In the case where the vehiclewheel is to be lubricated, as the vehicle runs on the rail theapplicator wheel assembly rotates by virtue -of its contact with thevehicle wheel and the rotational movement of the applicator wheelassembly in turn opcrates the various movable parts referred to above.Similarly, in the case where the rail is to be lubricated, the rail iscontacted by the applicator wheel assembly and the assembly rotates asthe vehicle runs on the rail to operate the movable parts in the samemanner as in the case of the lubrication of the vehicle wheel.

By the provision of the oil metering mechanism of the present inventionin the oil applicator device, it is possible to eliminate any valve orvalves which were otherwise necessary' in such an oil applicator devicein the past and accordingly, the present invention will provide thefollowing novel and improved advantages over the prior art correspondinglubrication oil applicators:

l. The employment of the worm, worm wheel, pawl wheel and related partscan provide a greater reduction ratio thereby to make it possible toemploy a relatively large diameter piston. It is well known in the artthat the larger the diameter of a piston is, the easier is themanufacture thereof.

2. It is known that larger diameter pistons (for example, in the rangeof 8mm 11mm in diameter) can be manufactured with a substantially highpreciseness. For example, such large diameter pistons can be producedhaving the high preciseness such as the clearance of 4 microns withrespect to the cylinders in which the pistons are disposed and within anerror of 1.5 microns in diameter. Such pistons have a high operationefficiency.

3. Although the oil metering mechanism is not provided with any valve orvalves which are usually employed to regulate the amount of lubricationoil to be applied on an object to be lubricated to a predeterminedvalue, there is no possibility of oil leakage in the metering mechanismsince the piston which constitutes the principal part of the mechanismhas been precisely manufactured.

4. Since the oil metering mechanism has no valve, it is not necessary tovent air from the mechanism.

5. The oil metering mechanism can always provide lubrication oil in apredetermined metered amount without being influenced by theenvironmental conditions.

6. The oil applicator device having the oil metering mechanismincorporated therein is substantially free of 8 maintenance in order tokeep the device in its proper operative conditions.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be thepreferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the invention, and it is aimed,therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. An oil applicator device for lubricating objectssuch as rails and/or rotating wheels, of the type which includes arotary oil applicator wheel adapted to contact said object to belubricated and to be rotated by the relative motion therebetween,comprising an oil applicator wheel assembly comprising a rotary oilapplicator wheel and a pump means axially spaced from said oilapplicator wheel,

said oil applicator wheel including an axial shaft drivingly connectedto said pump means through a speed reduction device,

said pump means having a pump chamber and a rotatable and axiallyreciprocable pumping piston located therein,

cooperating cam means in said chamber and on said piston forreciprocating said piston when the latter is rotated,

the output of said speed reduction means being connected to rotate saidpiston,

said chamber having oil-entrance and oil discharge ports on oppositesides thereof,

the end of said piston being notched to provide access of oil from theoil entrance port and simultaneously to close off the discharge portthrough a portion of each rotation of the piston, and viceversa, toprovide access of the oil in the chamber to the discharge port andsimultaneously close off the entrance port during another portion ofeach rotation of the piston,

passages conducting the oil from said discharge port to the oilapplicator wheel through a devious path to nullify the effects ofcentrifugal force whereby the flow of oil to said oil applicator wheelis controlled solely by said pump means.

2. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1 comprising means forvarying the position of one of said cooperating cam means whereby tovary the amount of oil pumped per revolution of the oil applicatorwheel.

3. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidpassages for conducting the oil from the discharge passage of the pumpchamber to the oil applicator wheel includes regions containing at leasta portion of said speed reduction means whereby to lubricate the latter.

4. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pistonhas a relatively large diameter of

1. An oil applicator device for lubricating objects such as rails and/orrotating wheels, of the type which includes a rotary oil applicatorwheel adapted to contact said object to be lubricated and to be rotatedby the relative motion therebetween, comprising an oil applicator wheelassembly comprising a rotary oil applicator wheel and a pump meansaxially spaced from said oil applicator wheel, said oil applicator wheelincluding an axial shaft drivingly connected to said pump means througha speed reduction device, said pump means having a pump chamber and arotatable and axially reciprocable pumping piston located therein,cooperating cam means in said chamber and on said piston forreciprocating said piston when the latter is rotated, the output of saidspeed reduction means being connected to rotate said piston, saidchamber having oil-entrance and oil discharge ports on opposite sidesthereof, the end of said piston being notched to provide access of oilfrom the oil entrance port and simultaneously to close off the dischargeport through a portion of each rotation of the piston, and vice-versa,to provide access of the oil in the chamber to the discharge port andsimultaneously close off the entrance port during another portion ofeach rotation of the piston, passages conducting the oil from saiddischarge port to the oil applicator wheel through a devious path tonullify the effects of centrifugal force whereby the flow of oil to saidoil applicator wheel is controlled solely by said pump means.
 2. The oilapplicator device as claimed in claim 1 comprising means for varying theposition of one of said cooperating cam means whereby to vary the amountof oil pumped per revolution of the oil applicator wheel.
 3. The oilapplicator device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said passages forconducting the oil from the discharge passage of the pump chamber to theoil applicator wheel includes regions containing at least a portion ofsaid speed reduction means whereby to lubricate the latter.
 4. The oilapplicator device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said piston has arelatively large diameter of 8-11 mm.